{"id":319,"date":"2010-01-11T09:15:06","date_gmt":"2010-01-11T09:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/prayerplainandsimple\/2010\/01\/the-eucharist-diet-how-hungry-are-you.html"},"modified":"2010-01-11T09:15:06","modified_gmt":"2010-01-11T09:15:06","slug":"the-eucharist-diet-how-hungry-are-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2010\/01\/the-eucharist-diet-how-hungry-are-you.html","title":{"rendered":"The Eucharist Diet: How Hungry are You?"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 11, 2010<\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Day 10<\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Weight: 204 lbs<\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Weight lost: -2<\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/i><\/font><\/font> <\/p>\n

“I have food you know not of…” John 4:31<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

I’m in a reflective mood this morning, needing to ponder and pen some basics, to remind myself what I’m doing here and why. Bear with me… <\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

I love to eat.  <\/span>The tastes, the aromas, the subtle textures, even the sight of food fascinate me.  <\/span>God could have packaged our necessary nutrients in vitamin pills.   <\/span>But no, he made kiwi fruit and brook trout and new red potatoes and honey and…  <\/span>Food.  <\/span>It is a huge part of our lives.  <\/span>And more than just sustenance, food means fellowship with friends.  <\/span>In the feast of our Lord food is even worship!  <\/span>Jesus loved to eat.  <\/span>In the gospels we often see him eating at feasts, or in the home of some repentant sinner, or turning water to wine at a wedding banquet.  <\/span>God blesses food!  <\/span>It is one of his many precious gifts to us.  <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus is sitting beside Jacob’s well in Samaria.  <\/span>His disciples have gone off to town to retrieve some food.  <\/span>Jesus is tired, and thirsty, and hungry.  <\/span>But as he sits and waits for his lunch and strikes up a most remarkable conversation with a wayward woman.  <\/span>In her excitement the woman leaves Jesus and runs to town to tell the town’s people that she has found the Messiah.  <\/span>Now the timing of this story is fascinating.  <\/span>Just as she is leaving the disciples return from town with some food.  <\/span>They say “eat Master.”  <\/span>But Jesus responds “I have food you don’t know about.”  <\/span>What food?  <\/span>Did someone bring Jesus something to eat?  <\/span>The mystery flies over the disciple’s heads.  <\/span>“My food” says Jesus “is to do will of Father.”  <\/span>What is Jesus saying?  <\/span>He is acknowledging another energy source.  <\/span>He is claiming that his ministry to this women has literally revived his strength.  <\/span>Truly, Jesus did live by bread, but not by bread alone<\/i>. <\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

We humans are not mere animals.  <\/span>Of course we need nutrition to feed our bodies: proteins and carbohydrates and minerals.  <\/span>But our spirits are fed by a different Life source.  <\/span>Unlike any other creature we co-existing in two universes: the world of time and space, and dimension of the spirit.  <\/span>And both realms require their own energy systems.  <\/span>When our stomach is empty, we fry a hamburger or make a salad.  <\/span>But what do we do when we’re spiritually hungry? <\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Nutritionists use to talk about the four basic food groups: dairy, meats, fruits<\/i> \/ vegetables, <\/i>and starches<\/i>.  <\/span>The Bible talks about basic spiritual food groups as well. To feed our spirits we need to balance our diets with: <\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7         <\/span><\/span><\/span>Milk<\/span><\/b>: the elementary truths of the gospel (Hebrews<\/i> 5:12).  <\/span>We need to understand the fundamentals of our faith. Knowing<\/i> truth<\/i> feeds our spirit.  <\/span><\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00b7         <\/span><\/span><\/span>Meat<\/span><\/b>: the “solid food” of righteousness (Hebrews<\/i> 5:13). We need to move beyond knowing the basics to live-out our faith in a righteous lifestyle. Practicing<\/i> truth<\/i> feeds our spirit. <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00b7         <\/span><\/span><\/span>Fruit<\/span><\/b>: the evidence of the Spirit in our transformed character and transformed relationships (Galatians<\/i> 5:22).  <\/span>We need to live our faith in our love for one another. Practicing love<\/i> feeds our spirit.   <\/span><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00b7         <\/span><\/span><\/span>Bread<\/span><\/b>: the bread of life is Jesus himself, his own body, and now His church (John<\/i> 6:35).  <\/span>We need to experience the presence of God. Knowing and practicing the presence of God<\/i> feeds our spirit.  <\/span><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\n

“God, I have food… Along with Jesus, this is what I say and claim. I have food that you have provided, and both physically and spiritually I am filled and content and nourished, already. I thank you for this. Thank you for the food you provide me. I don’t need more. I have enough. I have plenty. In Jesus…” <\/strong><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

“The Eucharist Diet” adventure is my six month experiment taking daily communion and tracking and posting the results in my personal life, relationships, health, and body fat percentage.   <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

January 11, 2010 Day 10 Weight: 204 lbs Weight lost: -2   “I have food you know not of…” John 4:31   I’m in a reflective mood this morning, needing to ponder and pen some basics, to remind myself what I’m doing here and why. Bear with me…   I love to eat.  The tastes,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":200,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-eucharist-diet"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Eucharist Diet: How Hungry are You?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2010\/01\/the-eucharist-diet-how-hungry-are-you.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Eucharist Diet: How Hungry are You?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"January 11, 2010 Day 10 Weight: 204 lbs Weight lost: -2   “I have food you know not of…” John 4:31   I’m in a reflective mood this morning, needing to ponder and pen some basics, to remind myself what I’m doing here and why. 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His true passion is walking with people in the exciting adventure of communicating with God.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/author\/mherringshaw"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}